This is the joint website of Women Against Rape and Black Women's Rape Action Project. Both organisations are based on self-help and provide support, legal information and advocacy. We campaign for justice and protection for all women and girls, including asylum seekers, who have suffered sexual, domestic and/or racist violence.

WAR was founded in 1976. It has won changes in the law, such as making rape in marriage a crime, set legal precedents and achieved compensation for many women. BWRAP was founded in 1991. It focuses on getting justice for women of colour, bringing out the particular discrimination they face. It has prevented the deportation of many rape survivors. Both organisations are multiracial.

A mother’s campaign to scrap a legal time limit that is robbing countless domestic violence victims of justice has been taken to the United Nations.

Kentish Town pressure group Women Against Rape (WAR) has submitted evidence to the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, on how the six-month limit on common assault charges protects many domestic abusers and is harming justice in Britain.

This woman, who was abused by her husband for a decade, has urged the government to change the law on historic domestic violence cases. Picture: Nigel Sutton This woman, who was abused by her husband for a decade, has urged the government to change the law on historic domestic violence cases. Picture: Nigel Sutton

As the service pioneers a new scheme that has identified a shocking number of hidden victims of domestic abuse, Citizens Advice finds that some victims are failing to gain access to legal aid because they are being let down by the system.

Over the period of a year Citizens Advice Bureaux saw over 21,000 reports of domestic violence – a rise of 16% from the previous year. The charity regularly sees over 13,000 people seeking help with domestic violence issues each year.

Domestic violence still often operates below the radar and is chronically under-reported. With 0.8% of Citizens Advice Bureaux clients disclosing domestic abuse, the Citizens Advice service took action and piloted a new radical programme in bureaux across the country to give victims a safe space to disclose this hidden violence by asking a few routine questions when clients sought help with debt and housing issues.

As the service pioneers a new scheme that has identified a shocking number of hidden victims of domestic abuse, Citizens Advice finds that some victims are failing to gain access to legal aid because they are being let down by the system.

9 January 2014

Over the period of a year Citizens Advice Bureaux saw over 21,000 reports of domestic violence – a rise of 16% from the previous year. The charity regularly sees over 13,000 people seeking help with domestic violence issues each year.
Domestic violence still often operates below the radar and is chronically under-reported. With 0.8% of Citizens Advice Bureaux clients disclosing domestic abuse, the Citizens Advice service took action and piloted a new radical programme in bureaux across the country to give victims a safe space to disclose this hidden violence by asking a few routine questions when clients sought help with debt and housing issues.

Family Rights Group claims cuts to local domestic abuse services are putting families at risk of being split up

Patrick Butler
The Guardian, Wednesday 15 January 2014

Children with a parent who suffers from domestic violence are increasingly likely to be at risk of being taken into care, a charity claims.

The Family Rights Group says that cuts to local domestic abuse and family support services, compounded by welfare reforms, mean families are more likely to be split up because they can no longer get specialist help. Data suggests that domestic violence has outstripped parental mental illness or drug and alcohol misuse as the most common underlying factor behind child protection intervention.

We ask organisations and individuals to support women and children impoverished by the Benefit Cap after escaping violent relationships. A legal challenge on behalf of affected families will be heard in the Court of Appeal in early 2014. Protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice